Archive for June, 2016

Born in 1971 in sacramento California, greg porter is one of the most popular new voices in jazz. One of 7 children, greg began singing in the church where he fully developed his rich, baritone voice. While in high school, Greg received a football scholarship to San Diego State, but a shoulder injury ended his football career. He currently lives in Bed-Sty in New York.

Greg has been recording on major labels since 2010 and his freshman outing, Water was soon followed by Be Good for Motema Records. Both CDs garnered early recognition of his amazing skills and voice.

Signing with Blue Note in 2013, Porter has continued to release CDs with original compositions that cross in to different styles that have won him international acclaim and he is reaching new listeners to jazz.

His third CD, Liquid Spirit, won him the 2014 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Liquid Spirit has been a worldwide commercial success and continues to increase the ever growing audience for jazz vocal stylings.

His latest release, Take Me to the Alley, is receiving good reviews and has more original compositions than previous releases.

A vital part of our Nation’s proud heritage, African-American music exemplifies the creative spirit at the heart of American identity and is among the most innovative and powerful art the world has ever known. It accompanies us in our daily lives, and it has rung out at turning points in our history and demonstrated how our achievements as a culture go hand-in-hand with our progress as a Nation. During African-American Music Appreciation Month, we honor the artists who, through this music, bring us together, show us a true reflection of ourselves, and inspire us to reach for the harmony that lies beyond our toughest struggles.

Songs by African-American musicians span the breadth of the human experience and resonate in every corner of our Nation — animating our bodies, stimulating our imaginations, and nourishing our souls. In the ways they transform real stories about real people into art, these artists speak to universal human emotion and the restlessness that stirs within us all. African-American music helps us imagine a better world, and it offers hope that we will get there together.

This month, we celebrate the music that reminds us that our growth as a Nation and as people is reflected in our capacity to create great works of art. Let us recognize the performers behind this incredible music, which has compelled us to stand up — to dance, to express our faith through song, to march against injustice, and to defend our country’s enduring promise of freedom and opportunity for all.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2016 as African-American Music Appreciation Month. I call upon public officials, educators, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate activities and programs that raise awareness and foster appreciation of music that is composed, arranged, or performed by African Americans.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortieth.